Air Board Loading Restrictions Onto Forklift Emissions

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The state is clamping down on emissions from forklift fleets.


Late last month, as part of its ongoing effort to reduce emissions from off-road vehicles, the state Air Resources Board voted to impose stricter emission limits on forklifts, those ubiquitous machines used for construction and for loading and unloading goods onto vehicles and in warehouses.


Most forklifts have engines that use gasoline or propane, with some using cleaner-burning natural gas.


The ARB’s rule has two parts. The first requires forklift engine manufacturers to meet more stringent emission limits for new forklifts sold in California. The second requires operators of existing forklifts to reduce emissions by retrofit, or replacement of the engines with cleaner models by the year 2009. The most common way to retrofit forklift engines is with the installation of a catalytic converter.


But in a concession to small business owners and independent construction contractors that had opposed the regulation as too costly, the ARB decided to exempt any entities that use fewer than three forklifts from the retrofit requirement, essentially removing about 70 percent of all forklifts used in California from the regulation.


This is the ARB’s second major effort to cut emissions from forklifts. In 1998, the board voted to cut emissions by 75 percent, beginning with 2004 models. By comparison, ARB officials noted that emission standards for cars have been reduced 98 percent over the last 30 years.


“Although we have previously regulated forklifts, it was time to renew our efforts and clean them up further,” said ARB chair Robert Sawyer. “Today’s approval by the Board is equivalent to removing over 200,000 cars from the road.”


For more information on the forklift regulations, log onto the ARB’s web page at www.arb.ca.gov/regact/lore2006/lore2006.htm.



Roofers Must Have Workers’ Comp


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a bill requiring roofers to provide proof of workers’ compensation insurance in order to get and keep a contractor’s license.


The bill, AB 881, by Bill Emerson, R-Fontana, closes a major loophole in the requirement that every business carry workers’ compensation insurance coverage. The existing requirement actually specifies that any business with employees must have workers’ compensation coverage.


But many roofers have tried to get around this law because their workers’ comp insurance rates are among the highest for any industry (due to the much-higher-than-average risk of injury to roofers). Instead of purchasing workers’ compensation insurance coverage, many roofing contractors have simply classified their workers as “independent contractors” and not employees. Of course, this puts roofing contractors who do purchase insurance at a severe cost disadvantage.


The legislation, which takes effect in March, 2008, ties the granting of contracting licenses to workers’ compensation coverage. It also entitles the state to take away a contractor’s license if the roofer fails to maintain workers’ compensation coverage.



Minimum Wage Update


With the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a collision course on raising the state’s minimum wage, the new battleground appears to be the previously defunct Industrial Welfare Commission.


Last week, both the state Assembly and state Senate approved bills to increase the minimum wage from the current $6.75 an hour to $7.75 an hour and then build in a virtually automatic annual cost escalator by indexing the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index. The California Chamber of Commerce estimates that each annual increase in the minimum wage could cost California employers more than $2 billion.


But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is staunchly opposed to indexing the minimum wage and has indicated he will veto whichever of the two bills reaches his desk. Instead, earlier last month, he petitioned the previously defunct Industrial Welfare Commission to raise the state’s minimum wage $1 without indexing.


Not to be outdone, proponents of indexing the minimum wage led by the California Labor Federation have submitted their own petition to the IWC, one that includes indexing. With Schwarzenegger’s veto of legislation virtually assured, it will now be up to the commission to sort through the rhetoric and the proposals to come up with its own regulation after holding a series of hearings over the next several months.


For more information on the Industrial Welfare Commission’s consideration of the minimum wage petitions, log on to the commission’s web site at: www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/iwc.html.



Business Income Tax Crackdown


The state Franchise Tax Board this month is mailing out notices to 30,000 businesses in California that its records show earned income but have not paid their 2004 taxes to the state. About 7,400 of the notices are being mailed to businesses within Los Angeles County, by far the most of any county, with nearby Orange County getting 2,255.


The FTB sends out these notices each year after it reviews records from the federal Internal Revenue Service, the state Employment Development Department and other agencies, as well as banks. The FTB looks for businesses that have recorded income elsewhere but have not paid their state income taxes.


The notices give business owners 30 days to pay up or explain to state tax authorities why they should not have to pay taxes.


Businesses ignoring the notice face tax assessments with penalties and fees of up to 50 percent of the taxes owed.


Businesses receiving the FTB notice may find information at www.ftb.ca.gov/inc or by calling (800) 478-7194.



Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at

[email protected]

or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227

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Howard Fine
Howard Fine is a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Business Journal. He covers stories pertaining to healthcare, biomedicine, energy, engineering, construction, and infrastructure. He has won several awards, including Best Body of Work for a single reporter from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers and Distinguished Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists.

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